The Flight of the Poltergeist
by MrSnippets
Summary: Accompany the Crew of the SSV Poltergeist on some of the many N7-Ops. Author's Note: Hey there, everybody! After writing my stories on paper, i finally wrote one down and uploaded it here. Let's see how well or bad it fares!
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

Laughter echoed through the corridors of the ship, as the female Turian concluded her Story. The human Male sitting beside her rested his arm on the couch behind them, seeing as they sat on the floor. A beer bottle filled his other Hand. Both were clearly drunk.

" And so this raw recruit, fresh off the transporter, just stares back into the eyes of the drill sergeant – and then just punches him, right between the eyes!".

While telling the story, she zealously used her hands and the bottle of dextro-beer in them to vividly illustrate the events of her story. The Human watched and listened, intrigued as much by her as by her story. "

And then what?", he inquired, laughing. " I'm assuming Turians don't take kindly to new recruits punching their superior officers?". He took another swig of beer.

"No." she laughed, "They most certainly don't." Her Mandibles fluttered into what the human recognized as a turian grin. "Now, normally, this would mean the head of the rookie. But, alas, in a chain of miraculous coincidences, no one of the present 20 soldiers witnessed anything. Bareface deserved it, tough.".

She took another swig of dextro-beer, while reclining into the couch behind them.

"Alright, next question.", the human announced. "First person you killed?"

"Aah, that's a good one..." the Turian murmured while she kept on drinking. "Let me think."

"What, can't remember your first Kill? Has it been so many that She can't remember her first?", the Human teased. In response, she punched his arm.

"Ouch! Alright, alright, don't kill _me _and then forget all about me, too."

Ignoring him, she began to speak: " My first kill probably was a batarian slaver we raided, maybe 1, 2 weeks after I finished Basic Training. He just ran towards us, gun blazing and everything. Too bad every shot of him missed. Mine didn't."

"Not bad!". He raised his bottle, now nearly empty, in acknowledgment.

" And you? Was it before or after you joined Cerberus?". If the Two had been sober, this topic would have caused some sort of awkward silence to come between them. Seeing as both were flat out drunk, none such thing happened.

"It was after, actually. After I left the Alliance and joined Cerberus, they put me in a squad with this complete idiot of a squad leader. Long story short, I shot him in the head."

Although the Female was drunk, it was obvious that this topic best be left to better days, so she dropped it.

"Okay, on to less serious topics!", she happily announced. " Most strange scene you walked into?"

"Oh, that is easy!". Taking a sip of beer, he began his Story.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

The Market was crowded, as Dvorak entered it, the air filled with strange and alien smells and the chatter of buyers and sellers. Turians, Asari Hanar, Volus and, of course, humans darted in every direction, only to be replaced by even more people.

Even a pair of krogans argued with a tiny salarian Shopkeeper about the Price of a Shotgun. Although the Two of them could crush his slender frame with ease, he didn't let himself be intimidated and angrily waved with his arms when one of the Two named a price he deemed too low.

Dvorak stood with his bag slung around his should and a datapad in hand in a door frame that led back to a small alley where he came from. He could easily be mistaken for one of the many customers and onlookers that flowed into the market, were it not for his full combat hard-suit he wore.

For lack of space, he had already donned his armor on the shuttle ride to the citadel, filling his bag with all his other belongings that he may need during his time with the SSV Poltergeist.

Despite him looking ready to fight, almost no one paid him any mind. Soldiers regularly embarked and disembarked from this part of the Citadel, to be shipped to the Hot Spots of the War or distract themselves from the constant fighting with shore leave, respectively.

Frustrated, He put down his bag on the ground and fumbled with his datapad. Did he even hold it right side up? He moaned, beaten and annoyed.

"Hello, and Welcome on the Dulzura Market. My name is Avina. How can I be of service to you?". With a flash a hologram of an asari sprung to life beside him. Startled, he recovered and began to articulate his question: "Eh, hey, I'm searching for Dock 24b? On this map, the docks end at 20, so …?"

" To reach Dock 24b from here, you have to use lift 7a, 25 meters to your right. Once in the lift, select 'Level 12'. Then, walk 30 meters, and take a left turn. Walk 14 Meters and take a right turn. Congratulation, you have reached your designated location! Thank you for using Avina!". With that, the hologram disappeared, leaving behind an even more confused Dvorak.

"O-Kay ..." he murmured, shouldering his bag, spinning on his heels and walking right into a tall figure. He landed on his rear, rather ungentle, the bag still clinging to him, but the datapad spun away and crashed on the floor. The tall figure, as he now made out, was a female Turian. She too, had landed on her rear.

"Ah, spirits, watch where you're going, human!" she said, rubbing here face where Dvorak had collided with her. "Damn, I'm so sorry!" He apologized, picking himself up from the ground and then offering his hand to the Turian. At first, she hesitated, but grasped it in the end. With both parties on their feet again and dusting themselves off, she asked: "In a hurry?".

"Just lost." The datapad didn't seem to have survived the impact. "Which lift?", he murmured to himself, before turning to her. "You don't happen to know where Dock 24b is, do you?".

Her Mandibles twitched into a form he recognized as a smile. "24b? Yeah, I know where that is."

"You do? Could you describe the way for me? The hologram was a little bit too fast..."

"I'll show you!". And with that, she was off. Dvorak took a moment to realize what just happened, and followed her.

After a while, just after they had taken a turn into an alley, she broke the silence: "So, what are you doing on Dock 24b? And what's with the Armor?"

"I'm getting transferred to a new unit. Aboard the SSV Poltergeist? She's supposed to be anchored at that Dock."

"So you're the new guy there?", she asked as they approached a sealed door, indicated by a glowing red interface.

"You could say that. Are you sure this is the right way?" He asked. Internally, he readied himself for a possible ambush, focusing his biotic energy. If this Turian wanted to prey on a new arrival at the citadel, she would be in for a surprise.

Coming to a stop, she didn't answer. Instead, she raised her Omni-Tool. With a soft hum, the interface changed colors to green. Dvorak tensed.

The Door slid open, and revealed an empty level, completely hollowed out for renovations. The female Turian stepped inside.

"Yeah, I'm sure. About a week ago, this whole floor was cleared for renovations. There's a shortcut to the Dock over there!"

Now Dvorak just felt silly. He relaxed, releasing his grip on his biotics.

"What's your name?" She asked, her voice echoing through the empty story.

"The name is Dvorak. You?". "Kajira. Call me Kaj. What kind of a name is Dvorak?", she relpied.

In his mind, He cursed his parents. "Not the kind you give your kid if you want it to have friends, that's for sure.". To his surprise, that raised a smile from her. "I like it. Easy to remember.".

They took another turn, past an empty elevator shaft. "Here we are!", Kajira announced, as she opened another door. "Dock 24b!".

A long hangar opened in front of them. Below them, multiple ships hung on docking clamps, being repaired, refueled and restocked. Dock personnel scurried between the ships, while soldiers went on or off board.

Dvorak whistled in awe. "That's the Poltergeist, down there!", Kajira pointed. Her Talon led to a compact little ship of turian Design, which appeared to be a former Bomber of some sort. Designed for Ground support, these Types of Vessels were equipped with a variety of air-surface weapons, to help their troops in a pinch.

From the Dossier he had received, The Poltergeist was damaged a few Weeks prior, and was being retrofitted to house a unit of the so called 'N7-Ops'. 'N7' originally was a designation for a renowned military branch of the Alliance, but since the reaper war started, anybody who could fight was being welcomed into these outfits. Dubbed 'N7-Ops' by the Operatives themselves, Alliance Command let the Violation of Protocol slide in favor of improved morale and an identity for the ragtag bunch of misfits these Outfits were.

As they descended down to the level of the ships, Dvorak began to wonder how and why a mere pedestrian had access to the military hangars of the Citadel. He couldn't finish his thought, as they, finally, reached the airlock to the Poltergeist.

"Thanks for guiding me. Who knows how long it would have taken me to find this on my own ..."

"I think I'm going inside with you. You know, _just to be save you find it_...", she smirked, showing the Guard at the Airlock her ID-Card, turning around and smiling. "Are you coming?"

He could have slapped himself. He wanted to. Instead, he fished his own ID-Card from his Bag, showed it to the guard and stepped into the Airlock, defeated. "Please don't tell anyone how long it took me to realize you're part of the Crew ...", he said, his head hung low.

"My lips are sealed ..." she smirked as the doors closed behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

The Interior of the Poltergeist was a buzzing hub of activity, stuffed to the brim with busy dock workers and engineers that were conducting last-minute repairs and upgrades, zealously trying to get the ship back in fighting shape. Crates with munitions, rations, power circuits and other gear were being pushed here and there, secured and stashed while the ship was being readied to depart.

"Come on, I'll show you your quarters." Kajira beckoned as she strolled to the elevator. Dvorak followed her, avoiding the workers that didn't seem to see him. The constant chatter and clatter of work was replaced by a deep, mechanical hum as the doors of the elevator slid shut.

"So, Dvorak," she began to say after a moment. "What's your story? How did you end up on the Poltergeist?"

He had concocted a story about himself that he could tell the other Team members, should they ask. It wasn't a lie, it just left out the short but quite important part of His past when he had been part of a human-centric organization, widely known as Cerberus.

It wasn't a good conversation starter to mention your former affiliation with a group that, at its very best, was seen as a bunch of xenophobic racists. Although he joined them when they were simply trying to defend human interests in the galaxy and had cut ties with them when they started to go from human-centric to actively anti-alien, such bagatelles seemed to be ignored once the truth was out.

"Pretty generic, I'm afraid. Sorry." he replied. "I grew up on a Mining Station in the middle of nowhere on the Edge of the Terminus and enlisted with the Marines as soon as I was able, just to get away. Since I was a Biotic, I was put in a 'safe environment'." He signed the quotation marks with his fingers. "Jargon for basically stuffing you in a lab for weeks on end while probing your brain, I guess."

Now came the tricky part. In reality, after he had completed basic and biotic training, he had served with the marines for a while but got fed up with the unwillingness of the Alliance to pursue human interests more aggressively. It was then when he heard about an Organization that did exactly that: Cerberus.

"And that's about it. I've been given the opportunity to participate in these so-called 'N7-Ops', so how could I say no?"

He put on his most convincing grin and hoped she'd buy it. Kajira just chuckled and replied: "Oh, you're one of _those_?"

_Those_ meant, in this case, Biotics in general. Dvorak had forgotten they were still viewed with mixed feelings by the Turian People. Kajira quickly realized her faux pas and added: "Not that that's a bad thing! I'm not prejudiced! I know you Guys can be handy in a pinch - we even got some in our team, so you should get along just fine!"

He was relieved that the focus of the conversation had shifted away from his past to his abilities. On those, he actually was proud. "It's okay. No need to apologize." he smiled.

The Lift came to a stop, and the doors slid open, revealing an empty corridor that led to an equally empty mess hall, flanked by two doors that appeared to lead to the quarters. "The Men's Quarters is to the left, so you best go there. I need to go see the Commander. You best do the same after you settled in. She's probably in the Hangar. Catch you later?"

"Sure! See you later."

And with that, she was back in the lift. As the doors closed shut, Dvorak turned around to see himself alone in this section of the ship. Only his breathing and a strange humming sound, that seemed to originate from the Men's Quarters. Curios, he shouldered his bag and headed off into the direction of the hum.

As he stepped through the door to the Quarters, he was greeted by something he would later describe to Kajira as the Strangest Scene he ever walked into: Between bunk beds, a couch and something that seemed to resemble a fort made of pillows lay a Krogan, Claymore Shotgun in hand. From him the mysterious hum originated, which Dvorak now identified as a snore. A party hat featuring a duck crowned his plated head, similar to the smaller party hat featuring a cow that decorated his shotgun.

"Don't mind him - he's just sleeping off his drunk." a voice behind Dvorak sounded, as he approached the Krogan. When he turned around, a young man with short, fiery red hair and freckles stand grinning in the doorframe, leaning against it. As if in acknowledgement, the Krogan snored loudly and turned into a more comfortable position. "Hey, I'm Peter Freeway. You're new here, aren't you?" the redhead introduced himself while offering his hand. Dvorak shook it. "Yeah, I'm the new Guy. Dvorak Helfer. I've been transferred onto the Poltergeist for these newly-formed N7-Ops?"

"I could tell. Not many dock workers wander into the quarters with their luggage." Peter replied, indicating Dvorak's Bag. "So anyway, this will be your new home, I take it? You already know my name, and the Bag of Sunshine passed out back there is Nakmor Gash." He turned to Dvorak, shielding his next sentences with his hand. "He looks tougher than he is. In secret, he just wants to cuddle and hold hands."

"Fuck you." sounded the grumbling reply from the Krogan.

"If I recall correctly, these were the exact same words you used when we were out drinking last night?" Peter taunted.

This time, only a tortured moan escaped the Krogan as he turned again into a more comfortable position. "Anyway, the rest of the crew is probably around here somewhere, too. First, you should check in with the Boss. She's in the hangar, the last time I heard."

"Yeah, I'll do that right away." He wanted to go, but hesitated as the bag around his shoulder came to mind. "Hey, is that bed occupied?" he said, pointing to the one to his left. "Nope, it's yours if you want it. I hope you don't snore."


	4. Chapter 4

The lift stopped again. As the doors opened, they revealed a small hangar that, just like the first deck, was ablaze in activity. Workers and mechanics alike stored, stashed, fixed, repaired or bolted down seemingly everything that wasn't bolted down.

In the midst of it all stood Kajira, talking to a slender figure. Dvorak stepped out of the lift, past the flash of light that was a welding engineer, and approached them. When the Turian spotted him, she gestured the other person. As the figure turned around, Dvorak recognized the woman's face from one of the pictures on his briefing. Her name was Elina du Pont, Commanding Officer of the Poltergeist. Her close-cropped, white hair and the scar below her eye made her seem gaunt, but as the female Turian whispered something in her ear, the woman's face lit up in a warm laughter.

"Commander du Pont!" He snapped a salute.

"Ah, Sergeant Helfer." She saluted in return. "You found your way to us without problems, I take it then?"

Kajira smiled.

"Yes, ma'am."

"At ease, soldier. We're departing as soon as the grease-monkeys have finished touching up my ship, so I suggest you familiarize yourself with her and her crew. I take it you already know Lieutenant Iryn?" du Pont replied, indicating Karija beside her.

"Yes, Ma'am. We met when I was on my way here."

"Maybe she can show you around the Poltergeist, then? Objections, Kaj?"

"No, Ma'am."

"Great. Settle in, Sergeant. And welcome aboard." She saluted again. And with that, Commander du Pont vanished between the workers and crewmen, leaving behind a slightly confused Dvorak and an amused Kajira.

"You told her, didn't you?" Dvorak asked without looking at her.

"What? I'm insulted that you would even suggest such a thing!" she replied playfully.

"What kind of a name is 'Iryn'?"

"Oh don't even go there. Besides, that's _Lieutenant _Iryn, _Sergeant!"_

"Sorry, Ma'am. Lieutenant Ma'am! Lieutenant Iryn!" He started to babble.

"Relax, Dvorak. I'm just messing with you." She smirked, before heading of in the direction of the elevator. "The boss said to show you around, so that's what we're going to do. Follow me!"


	5. Chapter 5

Dvorak and Kajira strolled over Deck Two, killing time before the lift-off. They found their way into the lounge that was located behind the elevator.

As they entered, Dvorak spotted a pool table that was stashed in the corner. A homey couch and Chairs provided a much needed relief for the fighting troops after a mission. Even a small minibar was located near the exit. But the main attraction of the room was, without a doubt, the great window that allowed the passengers to watch the stars as they drifted by.

Right now, it was closed shut and the only thing visible was the protective shell that ensured the structural integrity of the ship during maneuvers and combat. Although comfort was appreciated, it should not be at the expense of safety.

Nevertheless the odd pair settled down on a sofa as Kajira began to speak: "And this is about it. I think now you've seen pretty much everything of the 'geist. We're scheduled to pick up some more operatives before we make the jump, so we better enjoy the quite before it gets too crowded in here!" She smirked.

Just as Dvorak wanted to reply, the door opened again, and two figures stepped inside the lobby. One had the unmistakable head fringes of an asari, while the other one was an angry looking human male with short, brown hairs. Dvorak hadn't seen either one on his little tour.

Without introducing themselves, the human stepped forward and barked: "Kaj, step away from him!"

Confusion ensued. "What? Why? What's wrong?" Kajira asked, obviously confused. The human and the asari made their way to the couch, and the human barked again: "I'm not going to say it again, Kaj, step away from him!"

Both Dvorak and Kajira leapt to their feet, more reacting to a threat than obeying. She asked again: "Paul, what's going on?"

'Paul' answered by pushing Dvorak against the glass and holding him in a choke-hold with his right elbow. Before Kaj could react to rush to his help, the asari grabbed her arms and firmly held her in place.

Dvorak struggled to free himself, but it was a futile attempt: The other man was many times stronger than him and seemed to hold him in place with one arm as any other man might hold a piece of paper, his unblinking, angry eyes fixated on him. The more he fought the choke-hold, the more the other man pushed, and soon the edges of Dvorak's sight began to darken as the other man kept on pressing.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to us, Mr. Helfer? I'm sure you haven't told Kaj your whole story, did you?" Paul growled, not trying in the least to contain the anger in his voice.

"What the fuck are you talking about, Paul? He's just a marine, what else is there to it?!" Kajira replied for him, her own anger rising.

His little story he'd lain out for himself didn't seem so smart now. He'd always known that the dark stain in his past would come to light sooner or later, but he had hoped later than sooner. And Kaj had been nice to him the whole time they'd known each other. She deserved the truth. Judging Paul, everybody on the ship would know before they left Port, anyway. He turned to Kaj, twisting his throat a little bit to allow himself to speak:

"I left something out of my story, Kaj." He began." I didn't stay with the Alliance after I completed my Basic and Biotic Training."

Her eyed widened behind her face plate, her mandibles twitching in surprise. She stopped struggling against the asari, and instead listened closely to what he said next.

"I got fed up with doing nothing and patrolling empty space while our colonies were being abducted. The Alliance wasn't doing anything about It." he continued, as Paul pressed harder again when he heard Dvorak's stance on the Alliance, but still allowing him to speak on. "So I joined up with a group that, I thought, would _protect_ our people, not pit them against everyone else!"

A realization settled in Kajira's face, the expression of surprise being replaced by a look of betrayal, and then anger.

"When they started attacking other species, I got the hell out of there! I joined to stop the Collectors, not bully our way into more power! _She_ was with them at the time, too, so I thought I could do some good!"

'_She'_ referred to a certain lieutenant commander of the Alliance who was killed a few years prior and miraculously brought back to life by Cerberus.

"Like hell you did!" Paul declared. "Say the name!" he insisted, pushing harder again. Dvorak nearly choked, but he managed to croak out a single word.

"Cerberus"

The asari released Kaj, as did Paul Dvorak. She stepped forward as he lay on the ground, gasping for air. When he looked up, she towered over him, her face a mask of anger and betrayal. The asari and Paul vanished through the door. Kaj opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again, not finding anything to say to the man coughing and struggling to his feet.

When he had regained his feet and was able to look her in the eye, she simply turned around and left the room without a word.

When she was gone, Dvorak stood, alone in the lounge, for a while. A resounding "Fuck!" sounded through the small room, an angry scream that changed into a tortured groan.

What was he supposed to do now? He could live with Paul hating him, but the rest of the crew? But _Kaj_?

He returned to his Quarters. Peter and Gash still were there, and the Krogan seemed to have sobered up. When Dvorak stepped through the door, they both turned toward him.

"I guess Paul told you guys, too?"

"That you were with Cerberus? Yeah, he kind of told the whole ship." Paul replied. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I feared something along these lines might happen."

The Krogan and the red-haired man shared a look. Then, Peter began to speak while rubbing his neck: "You know Gash and me don't care that you were with them. Who cares what you did! The important part is that you're here with us now and help fight the greater, galaxy-endangering threat! After we've beaten the Reapers, there's still time to decide what to make of each other's doubtful decisions!"

Both men shared a grin, and even Gash let out a rasping chuckle.

"As long as you fight beside me, I won't question your past!" Gash announced.

"As will I!" Peter chimed in. "Now, enough with the touchy-feely stuff…"

As if to confirm Peter's intentions, Commander du Pont's voice crackled through the intercom of the ship: "All hands, this is Commander du Pont. Repairs are finished and we're lifting off as soon as the mechanics have cleared the ship. All Operatives, report to your quarters. Du Pont out."

The engines of the Poltergeist sprung to life, filling everything with a soft hum. Dock workers could be seen through the window, hastily retreating from the ship.

"Could my timing be more perfect?" Peter asked, congratulating himself.

"Shut up and sit down." Gash declared while doing so himself. "You too, rookie."

After they did as they were told, Gash produced a deck of cards and a bottle of pale, green liquid in it. "Skyllian-Five! Looser drinks three sips, winner one and the third drinks two sips."

"A drinking game has no point if _everyone _has to drink!" Peter complained.

"That attitude is probably why you lose so much!" Gash replied, while shuffling the cards.


	6. Chapter 6

Elina du Pont stood silent in front of the gathered operatives, studying their faces and trying to get a feel for the person that belonged to each one. After they had picked up another soldier on a refueling station near the Mass Relay, the final count numbered a total of eight operatives.

There were four humans: The always angry-looking Paul Johnson, the young Peter Freeway with his fiery red hair, a combat-engineer called Tobias Emmerding, as well as their newest human arrival, the Biotic Dvorak Helfer.

Since the need for able bodies opened the ranks of these special ops, they were accompanied by the Turian Kajira Iryn, the Krogan Nakmor Gash, the Asari Alisa Dagir and the Drell Kel Ostan.

All of them had gathered in the CIC, waiting for the briefing for the upcoming mission. Concluding her thoughts, du Pont swiped over the display in front of her. In response, the holographic image of an inconspicuous sphere of brown and red flashed into life, spinning slowly for a moment before zooming into a part of the ball that was spotted with metallic, grey dots.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to your first mission." She pointed to the form in front of here, where structures were fading into visibility. "This is your target: The planet Visoya. The Asari have some of the biggest fuel refineries in the system here, powering almost anything in a relay-wide radius."

The operatives listened closely, eager to learn more about their first target. Du Pont noticed that, although they seemed to get along well when they were back on the Citadel, now Kajira and Helfer stood separately. Whether that meant something or not was unimportant now, so she swiped over the display again, creating an image of a refinery on the planet. The structure was medium in size, a coiling mass of tubes, pipelines and metal.

"Four days ago, the refinery located on the northern hemisphere went silent. No alarm was triggered, no distress signal, nothing." She opened a collection of images of the employees, blueprints of the station and other useful data.

"A dispatch team was sent in to check the status. They went silent, too. That was two days ago."

She closed the holographic projector. As the lights turned on again, du Pont continued: "We can't afford to have the refinery idle for any longer. Your task will be to secure the refinery, retrieve any personnel, be it worker or dispatch team, and get that station running again. We will split into two teams, Alpha and Bravo. Alpha will gain entrance to the station via the main entrance, while Bravo will work on the main power generators." She fumbled on her Omni-Tool.

"All mission-relevant data is being sent on your Omni-Tools." In response, the hands of the operatives lit up as their Tools received the data.

"The teams are as followed. Alpha: Iryn, Freeway, Gash and Helfer. Bravo: Johnson, Dagir, Emmerding and Ostan. Iryn and Johnson, you are Team-leaders, respectively. Shuttles depart in 30, be ready in 20. Good luck down there. Dismissed."  
With that, du Pont went ahead to the shuttle bay. She wanted to make sure everything went according to plan.

A murmur filled the CIC as Commander du Pont left. Gash bellowed in anticipation of the upcoming mission, while the rest showed their excitement more refrained. Bravo Team gathered and went straight to the armory, while Alpha Team took a little longer to get sorted.

"Man, this is gonna be great!" Gash announced while slapping his chest. "I can't wait to try my new shotgun!

"Relax, Big Guy. You heard what the Boss said. 'Went silent', not 'Being attacked'. It's probably just a power shortage - and the dispatch team was too stupid to fix the problem." Peter said unimpressed.

While Gash tried to convince Peter of the certainty of an attack, Dvorak glance to the Turian Woman that still stood in the corner of the room. Being paired with her as well as her being the team leader would not help to smooth the tension between them. Since the incident in the lounge, she hadn't talked to him at all. Nonetheless, he was grateful that he wasn't in Paul's Team.

She pushed herself off the wall and strolled past him and the two arguing idiots, stopping at the door and turning around.

"Come on, team. Time to gear up."

Her voice was cold, methodical. Without waiting for a response, she headed through the door. Although there was nothing left from the warmth of their first encounter, Dvorak was grateful that Kaj was handling the situation professionally. He followed her to the armory the gear up, leaving behind Gash and Peter who took a moment to realize that they were alone in the CIC. Still arguing, they headed to the armory as well.


	7. Chapter 7

The shuttle swept through the clouds, steadily descending onto the twisting mass of tubes and metal on the planet below. A gust of wind caught the vehicle, causing it to sway slightly while continuing its path down to the ground.

Inside, Team Alpha sat in silent anticipation. Dvorak and Kajira didn't speak at all, only moving to occasionally check their equipment or counteract the turbulences of the craft. Gash and Peter sat opposite of them, barely containing their excitement.

"Thirty seconds to touchdown!" the mechanical voice of the pilot sounded, unseen behind a thick steel door.

Team Alpha stood up in unison and formed up on the door. "Check your gear!" Kajira ordered. Although they'd done it only minutes before, the team did as it was told. Belts were strapped tight, armor was adjusted and weapons were readied. "Ten seconds!" the call from the cockpit sounded.

"Remember: Keep your cool, stay alert and watch your fire. Let's do this."

The hatch opened with a hiss of incoming air, revealing a large plaza that separated two buildings of the refinery. The first structure didn't have any sort of entrance, while the second one was blocked by a large blast door.

With a leap Kajira sprung out of the shuttle, elegantly rolling off her shoulder to keep on running. Peter followed her, landing not as ceremonial but keeping his balance, taking cover beside his team leader. Gash leapt out, landing heavy with both feet, and stomped off to join them.

Dvorak exited last. His old reflexes kicked in, as he methodically checked their surroundings for any sign of threat. When the shuttle ascended again, stirring up the air, he fell in beside the rest of the team.

Their transport vanished behind a rig when Kajira began to speak.

"There's no sign of a fight anywhere!" she stated.

"No sign of the workers, the dispatch team or any hostiles, either." Dvorak chipped in.

"Maybe they're just having extra-long breaks?" Peter offered, earning himself a slap on the back of the head by Gash.

"Hey, quit it!" he objected, but was quickly shot down by Kajira.

"Stay focused! Gash, Helfer – cover me and Freeway while we're heading for the blast door back there. Once we're there, we'll cover you and you follow. Understood?"

"Got it." Dvorak confirmed, while Gash nodded solemnly. Both raised their weapons to meet any opposition, as Kajira grabbed Peter and bolted for the door.

After a quick dash, both the Engineer and the Turian reached the door, turning around and securing the way for the Krogan and the Biotic. They too reached the door without event.

"Keep an eye on the perimeter! Freeway, get to work on opening this door!" Kajira ordered, panning her rifle from side to side.

"You got it, boss!" Freeway replied delighted, as he opened his Omni-Tool and interfaced with the door.

And opened her instantly. For a moment, the team, Peter included, stood baffled in front of the open entrance.

"Eh… good work … Freeway." Kajira said unsure.

"Not bad, man!" Dvorak complimented without taking his eyes off the perimeter.

"That wasn't me, guys …" Peter said reluctantly, still crouched on the floor.

"What?" Kajira demanded. "What do you mean, 'wasn't me'?"

"Well, I didn't hack the door, that's for sure." He said, standing up.

"I think I triggered the …" he began, broke off and waved with his arm. A little red dot above the door flashed in response as the door tried to open again. "Yep. Triggered the automatic response. The door still got juice because it's got its own power source, so they don't lock their workers in in case of fires. This door wasn't locked."

The team shared a concerned look.

"Command said that no one left the facility since the power failure. The doors didn't stop them from escaping, so what did?" Dvorak asked

"We have to keep pushing forward." Kajira said resolved. "Eventually, we'll find someone or something that explains what happened here."

She stepped through the door into the darkness of the station.

The inside of the station proofed to be as eventless as the way to the door. The team made for the main control room, encountering nothing that indicated a fight on their way.

A strange silence hung over the refinery. Any other time, the machines that filled this place would drown out any other sound with their noise, but now they lay quiet, starting to gather dust.

Illuminated by the team's flashlights, the machinery resembled eerie serpents of steel and metal, coiling and twisting before hardening into solid forms of boxes or tanks.

"This is pointless." Gash grumbled. He had shouldered his shotgun, more bored than concerned or unnerved. "There is no one here!"

"He's right, boss. No sign of anybody, friendlies or hostiles." Peter agreed.

"The main control room is over there. Maybe we can pull some video footage or find survivors there." Kajira thought out loud. When the team reached the door to the room, it tried to open but jammed halfway up.

"We don't know if there are hostiles in there. Gash, when I give the signal, you push the door open and Helfer breaches and secures the room. Understood?" she said, regaining her resolve.

"Helfer, be careful!" Kaj whispered, leaning against the wall next to the door, preparing to rush in and help should help be needed.

Dvorak was slightly confused. On the one side, Kaj had expressed concern for his well-being. On the other side, she had just ordered him to burst into a room that was, potentially, filled with Reapers. He clenched his teeth and prepared to breach.

"Now!" Kajira hissed, her mandibles twitching in excitement. Gash used both hands and pushed the door up, causing it to yowl tortured.

Dvorak's biotics flared up, engulfing his arms in a blue haze. He grasped his SMG with one hand, formed a whip of biotic energy with the other and spun into the room.

What he found was not the enemy, but carnage. The bodies of the workers lay piled up in a big heap, blood of various colors had oozed onto the floor below, forming a partly dried pool.

He clenched his teeth, forcing himself not to gag. There was a … thing, doing something to one of the bodies, a gaunt, slender figure, crouching. When he heard a ripping noise, followed by chewing, he recognized the human form of a husk.

He clenched his teeth harder, anger flashing through his mind as he tried to block out the smell.

Startled by the noise, the husk raised its head, spotting him. A feral growl escaped its throat as it launched itself off the pile of bodies, darting towards Dvorak.

"What is happening?" Kajira inquired, gesturing Peter and Gash to form up and enter with her.

He breathed out. Time seemed to slow down when he pulled his hand with the whip back, focusing the energy onto his fist, causing it to glow bright blue. The husk was nearly upon him. He hurled his arm forward, striking the former human under the mechanical eye, smashing through dead flesh, organic and cybernetic tissue. The head of the thing exploded, spraying the floor and far wall with black blood.

When the team finally stormed into the room, guns ready and fire in their eyes, the broken form of the thing lay sprawled with the rest of the bodies on the floor.

"Holy shit …" Peter said, spotting the bodies, followed by "Oh god" when the smell hit him.

"Nice one!" Gash laughed as he walked over to the mangled body of the husk and kicking it slightly.

Kajira opened a channel to the Poltergeist: "Command, this is Alpha Leader. The civilians are dead, and we have a confirmed Reaper presence on the planet, I repeat, civilians dead and confirmed Reaper presence on the planet. Warn Bravo Team, Alpha continues as planned. Confirm?"

A single "Confirmed." crackled through the channel. Kaj closed it again and turned towards her team.

"Now we know who we face. We don't know how big the force is they gathered here, but seeing as our scans didn't pick anything up, it can't be too much. Still, exercise extreme caution. We're taking this station back!"

"Finally!" Gash laughed as he took point. Dvorak still stood in the middle of the room, fists clenched. When Gash and Peter went out of the door, Kajira lingered behind.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just never got used to seeing …" he looked at the origin of the pool of blood and stopped.

"Come on, let's go." she said, leading him out of the room.


	8. Chapter 8

A drizzle had formed outside of the refinery, its soft drops sprinkling the few windows the structure had. Inside, sheltered from the rain, Team Alpha moved through the darkness, anticipating an ambush any second.

But none came. After another eventless while, they entered a hall with high roof, housing a cylindrical structure in the middle with tubes leading away from it.

"That's a one of the main fuel-lines here." Peter explained, pointing at the giant tube. "There the fuel is pumped through in a liquid state, searing hot, before it's being prepped for processing."

Dvorak swallowed hard. The sheer size of the tube implied how much fuel was handled here, and how much of it was not on its way to the front.

They made their way to the tube, spotting an entrance that led through to another side of the hall.

"Why the hell would someone put a door in a tube?" Gash asked.

"The workers probably use it to gain access to the pipeline itself, should it be clogged. They just seal one end, climb in, fix the problem, get out and restore the flow." Kajira mused.

When they reached the entrance to the tube, they also reached an impasse. Their way to the end of the hall led across countless tubes leading away from the great tube, over a small catwalk, too small for the whole Team.

"If we try to cross over there with everyone, we could just paint targets onto ourselves." Kajira pointed out, her mandibles twitching. "Maybe two can cross. The only other way leads through the tube …"

"No way am I going in that thing." Gash protested. "Dibs on the catwalk!"

Before he could say something, Peter had already blurted out "Shotgun!" stood beside Gash. He cursed under his breath.

"Alright, keep your eyes open while you cross, and don't make any unnecessary noises!" Kajira advised them as they turned toward the ladder to the catwalk. "You know us, boss. Graceful as an asari!" Peter joked while Gash already ascended the ladder. When they were out of eyeshot, Kajira turned to Dvorak.

"Come on, Helfer."

They entered the tube. Inside, the walls shimmered from leftover fuel, giving the whole scene an eerie look. Dvorak felt as if he walked inside a giant animal, its bowels moving when he wasn't looking. They couldn't reach the exit fast enough.

His eyes wandered, scanning the inside of the tube, but finally resting on the turian before him. He felt bad for not telling her the whole story. He opened his mouth to say something.

Then the world exploded into action around the team. With a flash, all the lights in the hall illuminated, blinding Peter and Gash on the catwalk. Inside the tube, warning lights flashed in red, followed by a metallic crack and a screeching noise. The door behind them crashed shut.

"What the just happened?" Kajira asked, speaking to Dvorak, Gash, Peter and the Poltergeist at the same time.

"Team Bravo restored the power. They –"Commander du Pont tried to explain, but the transmission was cut short and faded into static. Peter's voice appeared through the radio: "Boss, we just lost contact with the Poltergeist and the power is back on. Seems like Bravo Team did their job."

The mechanical voice of a woman spoke up through the refineries intercom: "Power: Restored. Heat-Level: Restored. Fuel-Flow: Restored. Warning: Please vacate maintenance-access immediately. Have a nice day." A flowing sound appeared as the tube around them lit up in warning lights.

"And it couldn't be a better time!" Kajira screamed through the radio as Dvorak channeled biotic energy around his hands, forming a big, blue orb. "We're still inside the tube and about to be cooked alive in fuel!"

"Oh shit." Peter cursed. "Gash, we have to move, the boss and Dvorak are in trouble. Double-time it!"

Dvorak released the biotic orb, smashing it into the door, achieving nothing. He tried it again, again resulting in nothing but a slightly dented door. He cursed and tried it again.

"I see a console! Maybe I can stop the release from opening!" Peter's voice sounded.

"Do it fast or there won't be anything left to save! Helfer!" Kajira replied, then turning her attention to Dvorak. "Anything?"

"It doesn't budge. We'd need a tank to blast through this!"

"We don't have a tank! And we don't have any time left! Freeway!"

"I'm working on it!"

The flowing, rushing sound closed in on them. The chamber began to rumble and vibrate.

"Freeway!" Kajira screamed for a last time. Then, the world around them was plunged into darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

Paul Johnson kicked back and put his feet up on a dormant console, taking off his helmet. The power was still out when they found the generator room, and they had settled in right away, beginning repairs. While Paul ran his fingers through his hair, the rest of Team Bravo occupied the generator-room below him, visible through the glass of his control booth.

On the far side of the room, beside the door, stood the drell Ostan, vigilant as ever, gun in hand. He hadn't spoken much since they touched down with the shuttle, and continued to stay alert although their scanners hadn't picked anything up in the vicinity.

Next was the engineer Emmerding, fumbling around with the massive generator that almost filled the whole room, alternating between cursing and fumbling some more. He was capable, Paul knew as much, but he knew it and that was the problem.

Last in Bravo Team was the asari Alisa, the only one in the team he knew on a first name basis. She was pacing the room up and down, nervously checking her Omni-Tool for contacts, much to the dismay of Emmerding.

"If you don't mind, I'm trying to repair a generator the size of a small house. Would you relax?" He snapped after Alisa passed him again.

That got her attention, but didn't get her to stop: "How am I supposed to relax if there's Reapers on the station? How can anyone?"

"We don't even know if _they _are on the station anymore. Or were to begin with - who knows what those airheads from Alpha Team really saw." Emmerding replied.

"Kaj knows what she's doing." Paul remarked, opening a channel with the rest of the team. "If she says there are Reapers here, you bet your ass there are Reapers here."

"Fine. What about the new guy, then? Helfer, was it? Heard he had some connections to Cerberus, what's up with that?" Emmerding offered, as he stepped inside a part of the generator, his voice being muffled by the hard steel shell.

Alisa stopped and looked up to Paul. She looked concerned. "He didn't seem like a bad person. I don't know, Paul …" she said, hesitantly.

He returned her look with an icy stare. "Once with Cerberus …"

He couldn't finish his sentence, because a muffled scream of joy sounded out of the interior of the generator. Moments later, the big machine roared back to life, the lamps in the room flickering alight.

"Am I good or am I good?" Emmerding said cocky as he stepped out. Meanwhile, Paul opened a channel to the Poltergeist.

"Command, this is Bravo Leader. We restored Power, proceed to advance to meet Alpha Team and secure station. Do you copy?"

Professional and quick as always, du Pont's voice sounded: "We copy. Good work."

Paul donned his helmet again, the environmental seals hissing softly as it closed. "Alright Team." he began as he stepped out of the booth and down the stairs. "Form up on me, let's see what Alpha Team was doing while Emmerding worked his magic."

Ironically, the second the words left his mouth, the lights around them began to flicker again. The generator roared louder, trying to pump out more and more power, before shutting down with a loud bang, snuffing out the light. Team Bravo stood there, befuddled.

Paul opened a channel again. "Command, scratch that. Generator just kicked the bucket, we'll try again. You copy?"

No reply came.

"Command, do you copy?" Paul asked again.

Still nothing.

"Commander du Pont, do you read?"

For a third time, only silence was his answer.

"I lost my connection with the ship. Anybody else?" Paul asked, turning to his team.

The room lit up in an orange glow as multiple Omni-Tools were activated. "I lost mine, too!" Alisa stated, closing her Tool again. "Mine's dead, too." Emmerding growled frustrated. "I lost my connection as well." Kel Ostan completed the batch.

"Damn." Paul cursed. "Emmerding, can you tell me why the generator died after 20 seconds?"

"I'm looking into it right now." He fingered wildly on his Tool. "It … seems like there was a power surge, somewhere west of us. It drew so much power it overloaded the generator and shut it down."

"Can you fix it?"

"Not without looking at what caused the surge. If we start it up again now, it will just draw too much power and shut the generator down again."

Paul groaned and raised his hand to rub his temple, but only ended up touching the side of his helmet. "Alright." He said with clenching teeth. "We'll look into the cause of the surge, then double back here and fix it _again_. If we haven't died from boredom until then, _maybe _we can get some action with the lights on. Form up on me, Team. Time to move out."


	10. Chapter 10

"You okay?" a female voice sounded, resonating against the walls of the chamber.

"Yeah, I'm fine." A male voice replied. "Looks like Peter came through. If he didn't this is one disappointing afterlife …"

Kajira had to laugh. Her voice filled the room, her sub-harmonics giving it a strange but warm edge. Somehow, the pressure fell off her shoulders as she realized that they weren't dead. She opened a channel.

"Good work, Freeway. I don't know what you did, but it is working."

Through the static, the voice of the red-haired man came like a life line: "Glad you guys are okay. I cranked up the power-intake of the chamber as high as possible. Overloaded the whole system, and now it's dark again."

"We can restart the generator once we're _not _inside a giant death trap." Dvorak said while searching through the darkness. Which way was the exit?

"Any ideas on how to get us out of here?" she asked.

"I'm trying to activate an emergency release hatch. It should be located in the middle of the chamber, but I'll need some time to open it."

"Keep working on it. Gash, cover him while he does. Stay safe and keep me posted!" Kajira resumed her role as squad leader. "Yes, boss." Freeway said, signing out. "You got it, chief." Gash replied, the sound of a safety-switch being flipped in the background.

As the radio died again, Dvorak and Kajira found themselves alone for the first time since the incident in the lounge.

"Hey…" Dvorak began, breaking the silence between them. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my past. Truth is I want to forget it as badly as the next guy." He clenched his fists. "It's like a stain in your history. A mistake you're constantly reminded of, and …" He didn't finish the sentence.

"It's okay." Kaj replied after a moment. "I wasn't angry because you were with Cerberus. I just …"

She hesitated.

"I just hate to be lied to. It … happened before." She took a step towards him. Then, another.

"You know, I think we really connected the first time we met, back on the Citadel. And not just because you head-butted me."

They chuckled as she continued.

"I really like you, Dvorak." She took another step. "And you hiding your past felt kinda like a slap in the face."

"I'm sorry. I really, really am. Will you accept my apology?" he asked, smirking under his helmet.

"How could I say no to these eyes?" she smirked as well, revealing her teeth, as she knocked against his visor with a taloned finger.

A strange moment passed as they both stood in front of the other.

Dvorak hadn't realized it until now, but Kajira had a beautiful face. For a turian. And yet, he was strangely fascinated by her. It was framed by her mandibles, as well as her face-paint, a hue of deep green that accommodated the green color of her eyes.

Kaj thought similar thoughts: Although he was a human, she was strangely drawn to the man. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about him fascinated her. He didn't have a fringe or a faceplate and had a strange skin color, just like all the other humans she'd met, but he was easy on the eyes, too, in a weird, alien way.

A strange sensation gathered in Dvorak's stomach. Kajira's mandibles twitched in a way he'd never seen before.

A 'click' sounded from under them. Then, the floor gave away beneath them, spewing them on a broad catwalk.

Dvorak landed hard on his feet and was forced to his knees, shielding his face with his hands. Then Kaj landed on him and both kept on lying there for a minute.

"Ouch …" Dvorak groaned in pain.

"What was that?" Kajira asked, rubbing the back of her head.

"Good news, guys, I managed to open the hatch!" Peter sounded excited through the radio.

"We noticed." Dvorak groaned.

"Good work, Freeway." Kajira forced herself to her feet. "We're a level below you. Form up on me and we'll proceed as planned." She offered her hand to Dvorak, grabbing him as he took it and pulling him up on his feet.

A metallic object fell to the ground outside of their field of view, followed by a wheezing sound. Two red-glowing orbs appeared in the shadows in front of them.

"Contact!" Kajira screamed as the brute roared and charged, pushing Dvorak in one direction and darting herself into another. The monster passed them in a storm of flesh, muscles and iron.

Getting up, Kajira grabbed her gun and fired a volley of rounds into the back of the beast. Dvorak got to one foot, formed an orb of blue energy in his palm and threw it against the brute.

The thing simply shrugged of their attacks as it turned around, roaring again.

"This isn't doing anything!" Kajira bellowed. "Follow me!"

She bolted away from the brute, down some sort of ramp and into an area filled with crates and equipment to move them. The stomp of the beast behind them rang hard against the metal of the catwalk. It hopped down a small edge and charged them.

Kajira was able to dive out of the way, but Dvorak was smacked against a crate behind him as the brute charged past him.

"Dvorak!" Kajira shouted, darting in his direction but getting cut off by the beast.

"I'm okay." He coughed, blood splattering the inside of his helmet. He ripped it off his head and tossed it aside as the brute charged past Kajira, who managed to get out of the way just in time.

"What are we going to do?!" he shouted.

"I have an idea! Distract it! I need to get on top of one of these crates!" she replied, already fumbling on her Omni-Tool and scaling a few smaller crates.

"Distract it? Great, I always get the awesome jobs …" he grumbled while letting two whips of energy sprout from his palms. He snapped the first against the head of the beast, taunting it.

"Hey! Big guy! I'm over here! Come get me!"

The brute roared in anger, rushing him. Dvorak bolted to the side, avoiding being sliced in half by the big claw of the beast.

He turned towards it, taunting again: "I bet your momma is so fat even Harbinger couldn't indoctrinate her!"

The brute moved quickly. Too quickly. It closed the gap between them, smashing him against a crate and pinning him there with its claw.

"What's the matter; did I hit a nerve there?" Dvorak taunted again, the brute screaming directly in his face. The pressure from the claw intensified.

Kajira leapt from her crate, grasping her rifle in both hands like a spear. On its end, the orange glow of an Omni-Blade shimmered. When she impacted on the brute, she pushed the blade deep inside the head of the monster, using the force of her jump. As she pierced the head of the brute, the few flesh seared and blackened. The red orbs that were the eyes of the thing stiffened, the claw releasing its grasp around Dvorak.

With a thud the heavy body of the brute collapsed onto the floor, black, sludgy blood forming a pool around its head.

"Holy shit, Kaj …" Dvorak whispered, catching his breath.

Kajira stood over the dead body of the beast, breathing heavily, her mandibles twitching in tension. She ripped on the rifle, dislodging the blade from the skull. It was broken, destroyed by the impact, and absolutely splattered with black sludge. She dropped it beside the body, and descended the mountain of flesh.

"Are you alright?" she asked, catching her breath.

"Am _I _alright? Are _you _alright? You just impaled a giant monster and stroll around like it's nothing!"

He hugged her. It was almost a reflex, out of joy of their survival, the primal fact that they killed the thing that was trying to kill them. Kajira stood there, surprised the say the least, but when she recognized the gesture, she returned it.

Strange scents filled her nostrils. There was the stench of the brute, the metallic scent of blood - his and hers, and the familiar scent of sweat. But there was something different. It smelled good, she could tell as much, but she couldn't say _why_. The alien things called 'hair' on his head felt soft against her faceplate.

A door was broken open, and Gash stomped in followed by Peter, both guns ready. Dvorak and Kaj stopped their hug and turned towards them.

"You guys okay? We heard gunshots and met some husks on the way. There's definitely Reapers on the station!" Gash asked them, descending a small staircase.

"We had our own problems." Dvorak stated pointing behind him with his thumb where the body of the brute lay.

Peter whistled in respect while Gash grumbled. "I never get the good ones …"

"The link to the ship is still down?" Kajira asked, wiping some blood off her chest.

"Yeah, no luck there." Peter replied frustrated. "What's next, boss?"

"We meet up with Bravo Team. Maybe their link is still functional. In any case would it be nice to know what's going on. What's their last known location?"

"The generator room, 15 minutes that way." Gash pointed to a door on the far side of the hall.

"Alright." Kaj said resolved, grasping a small pistol to replace her broken rifle. "Let's move out."


	11. Chapter 11

"The radio is still down?" Paul asked as he led Bravo Team through a small corridor which only allowed them to go single file. Alisa responded by pulling up an orange-glowing hand, checking her Omni-Tool.

"Still no sign of Alpha Team, but I'm getting a garbled transmission from the Poltergeist."

She played the message, an almost unrecognizable tangle of static, noise and cut-off words. When it ended, Emmerding spoke up.

"Am I the only one or did someone else hear 'center of the station'?" he asked in his usual, half-bored half-condescending tone.

"I heard it too." Alisa agreed, switching off the Tool on her hand. "What's in the center of the station?"

"Intel showed the main mess hall. Maybe the Reapers are having lunch?" Paul offered, opening a door to his left and stepping through. "Scanners are picking up activity in that area as well. Could be hostiles. Could be Alpha. Either way, it's worth checking out before we head for the console."

"If you say so …" Alisa hesitated.

She didn't like the darkness. Every nook was a possible hiding spot for those disgusting reaper-shells, every corner a gamble that there wasn't a monster, waiting for them. It reminded her of the ghost stories her mother used to tell her, back on Thessia. From the looks of it, the Reapers might as well have come out of a bed-time story.

Paul opened another door, revealing a larger corridor. He let the rest of the team catch up, checked his Omni-Tool, and addressed them.

"Alright, from here on out its only 100 meters to the mess hall. Eyes open, mouths closed, everyone. Look for signs of hostiles, friendlies or anything that looks like a jammer. Let's go!"

With that, the team accelerated their walk to a quicker pace, speeding down the widening, dark corridor. When they reached the locked door, the Omni-Tools of them beeped in unison, warning of possible contacts beyond.

"Alisa, you and I breach! Emmerding, Ostan, you two cover us. On my mark!" Paul barked in a hushed voice. "Mark!"

The door was kicked open violently. Paul and Alisa stormed inside, their guns ready to meet any opposing force. Moments after they entered, Kel and Emmerding followed.

The mess hall was eerily quiet. In difference to the rest of the station, it was obvious that a fight had taken place here. Tables and benches lay turned over, weapons fire had scarred and blackened the walls. Dark smears covered the floor and some of the walls, leading to a far corner on the other side of the room. A metallic smell was in the air, heavy and penetrating.

"Still think there's nothing here?" Paul asked Emmerding as they advanced carefully. He didn't reply, his mind under too much pressure.

In the middle of the room, between some overturned tables, stood a metallic structure. Tubes and wires led out and into it, looking suspiciously like veins. The whole thing seemed to vibrate, almost breathe, and gave away a deep, soft humming sound.

Emmerding pulled up his Omni-Tool, but to no use: It flickered, trying to open properly, but failing at doing so. Other attempts to scan the device led to similar results. The nearer they got, the more their electronics started to fail.

"Yup, that's a jammer alright." Emmerding said, his nervousness clearly showing. "But why would they leave it unguard…"

A high-pitched, whizzing noise sounded, followed by a thud. He fell to his knees, still clutching his shoulder, before toppling over face first.

"AMBUSH!" Alisa cried, turning around and bolting into cover. The corrupted Batarians had already started to flood into the cafeteria, firing their twisted guns that replaced their arms.

Paul crashed into cover hard, grunting from the impact, projectiles hissing overhead. He saw Ostan jump behind a pillar, just in time to avoid getting mowed down. Alisa had ducked behind a table, already returning fire. Emmerding still laid face first in front of the object, a puddle of blood forming beneath him.

"We need backup! We need Alpha Team!" Alisa shouted over the gunfire.

"Like hell we do!" Paul replied angrily. As if he needed the help of some Cerberus-traitor. He popped out of cover, sprayed the nearest reaper-shell with bullets and duck back to the floor before the rest could retaliate. He struck the side of his rifle, forcing the spent clip to eject. It spun around itself mid- air, still red-hot, before dropping to the ground.

Ostan flung a grenade past his life-saving pillar. It erupted into a blue burst, taking out the left side of the attackers, but still more pressed on into the room. The smell of burning flesh and hot metal filled the room.

Paul turned around, looking behind them. Emmerding still lay before the jammer, not moving. The red puddle was growing in size, and the engineer would bleed out soon if they didn't do something. If he was still alive, that is. He took in his surroundings, forming a mental image of the scene from his hunkered-down-position. The drell was nearest to Emmerding, but with the constant fire, nobody could get to him.

"Ostan, when I give the signal, you run to Emmerding and drag him with you to Alisa. We'll give you suppressive fire. Got it?" He barked over the noise.

"Understood!" Kel acknowledged, still pressed hard against his pillar.

"Now!" Paul shouted as he leapt to his feet, firing an Incineration-Program from one hand while firing his rifle with the other. Alisa too got to her feet, spraying the lines of enemies with gunfire.

The fireball smashed into a husk, searing and charring. The humane figure toppled and fell to the ground as the bullet storm of the human and the asari reached the line of the reapers. For a moment, their attack staggered, a basic instinct left in them forcing the shells to take cover.

Kel bolted away from the bullet-hole ridden pillar, reaching Emmerding in moments. He reached under the human's shoulders, dragging him to the toppled table where Alisa was still firing. When the two reached them, they seemingly changed roles, and Kel started firing as Alisa tended to the limp form of the engineer.

"He's still alive!" Alisa declared after a quick check. "Barely! He's lost a _lot _of blood and only the medi-gel is holding him together!" She continued while injecting a fine syringe into the armor of the other soldier, flooding him with her own medi-gel. "What do we do now?!"

Paul's mind raced. Their position wasn't all that bad – the enemy was bottlenecked by the main door. If they had a few guns more, they might have been able to win this. But their cover was miserable and they were outnumbered so badly it made him clench his teeth.

He opened his mouth to bark a command - something, anything, just to say _something _and not give into panic, when the door on the far side of the room was being crashed against from the other side.

He watched in horror as the door was being slammed into repeatedly, so hard, the dust from the ceiling crumbled down. If hostiles broke through from there, they were screwed. More than screwed, they were dead with their pants down if the enemy came through that door.

He opened his mouth again to warn his team, but only a curse escaped his lips. The door broke open with a tortured crash and Paul cursed again.


	12. Chapter 12

Kajira gestured her team to speed up. The source of the explosion they had heard was down the hallway they were running through and beyond a solid steel-door. The sound of gunfire was audible as well.

"Get that door open!" she barked, and Peter hastily got to work, only to stop immediately.

"No use, the system is fried. We have to pry it open." he said.

"Already ahead of you." Gash grinned, as he crashed a shoulder against the hard door.

"You're gonna alert the whole station!" Peter gasped, perplex.

Dvorak channeled biotic energy and threw them against the door. "Chances are they already know we're here. We might as well help out whoever fights them on the other side."

"Do it!" Kajira said after a moment of pause. Peter stood motionless, but then got to work on forcing their way through as well.

The door broke open with a tortured creak, falling over into the dirt and taking a good part of the frame with it. Before Alpha Team, a mess hall of some sort revealed. On the far side at least a dozen, if not more, reaper shells flooded through a door, firing their weapons, howling and – Kajira had to force herself not to gag – eating their fallen comrades.

The target of their aggression was hunkered down in the middle of the cafeteria. Sheltered by some tables were two figures, trying to avoid the deadly hail. A third body lay between them, tended to by them.

She spotted Paul, lying on his back, chest upright, leaning on a pile of rubble, his gun raised and pointed – to her surprise – towards her. The figures turned around, the eyes of the asari wide open in horror.

"Friendlies!" Alisa screamed. "Covering fire!"

Kel and the asari straightened up and fired over the barricade, allowing Alpha Team to reach them. When the last one slammed into cover, Kajira turned to Paul.

"What's the situation?" she had to shout over the resuming noise of the fight. He didn't answer, still looking towards the door they'd come through.

His armor shook. A deep, raspy laughter mixed with the gunfire.

"Hot damn, you guys took your sweet time." He finally spoke up, turning around and hurling another fireball into the mass of Cannibals. "Emmerding took a bullet. He's still alive, but he's gonna bleed out if we don't do something about it. That aesthetically-pleasing thing behind us is the jammer that's been blocking communications. Once we're finished here, we'll have to blow it up."

"Buisness first!" Peter shouted over the noise. The flow of Husks and Cannibals had stopped, but still many remained inside the cafeteria.

"Okay, let's clean out this mess hall first." Kajira offered. Paul nodded, addressing all operatives.

"Alright, People, listen up. Once I give the signal, Kaj and I will give you covering fire, giving you the chance to get in close and do what you do best!" Gash raised his fist in approval. "Alisa, stay with Emmerding. Now!"

The two team leaders got up, firing. Gash leapt over the barricade, dashed the short distance to the nearest Husk and head-butted it, splattering the floor with black sludge. Paul stormed out as well, smashing the butt of his rifle into the face of another reaper-shell.

Dvorak formed his whip again, engulfing a husk in it and crashing it against the ceiling and floor. His blood pumped and sweat ran down his neck as he cracked his whip. A Cannibal swung its mix of gun and arm at him, forcing him to twist away, evading the blow. Gash knocked the thing to the ground, firing into it point-blank.

When the last reaper-shell had died, black sludge oozing from its wounds, Paul lifted his helmet, took it off and ran his fingers through his sweat-soaked hair.

"Well done, people." He said. He glanced at Dvorak, who was just turning over the body of a husk to make sure it was dead. He clenched his teeth, but ignored the feeling and continued.

"Alisa, how's our little lamb doing?"

"I've stabilized him as best as I could. Still, we need to get him to the Poltergeist's med-bay."

"That will be difficult if we can't even tell them where we are. What do we do with the jammer?" Dvorak asked.

Paul clenched his teeth again, and replied annoyed: "What do you mean 'what do we do with it'? We blow it up, of course, what else?"

"I'm just saying maybe the Alliance would be interested in the technology behind this."

Anger flashed in Paul's eyes, but before he could reply, Peter spoke up.

"How about a compromise? I think I might be able to stop the jammer from working for a minute or so. Then, we can call the boss and ask what to do."

"I think that would be best. Get to work." Kajira agreed. Paul rolled his eyes and sat down near a pile of rubble, rubbing his temple. "Fine. Let's set up shop here while Freeway works his magic. Kel, Gash, you're on guard duty.

The group spread out, starting their assigned tasks. Alisa still tended to the unconscious Emmerding, Kajira joined Peter as he got to work on the jammer, and Gash and Kel covered the two doors leading into the room. That only left Dvorak without something to do. After a moment of indecision, he joined Gash by the door.

After a while, Paul got up and walked the short distance to Alisa and Emmerding.

"How's he doing?" he asked again as he sat down beside her.

"He's alive. Not much more I can say. I'm not a medic, and humans have a weird physiology, anyway."

She glanced at Paul, who raised an eyebrow.

"Eh, sorry. You know what I mean. Point is we better get out of here, fast."

"I hear ya. We would be on our way if we'd just strapped some explosive to that thing and be done with it." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder to the jammer where Peter was kneeling whilst working, Kajira standing beside him with crossed arms. "Besides, I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Keep an eye on our 'friend' back there when I'm not around." He glanced at Dvorak who was talking to Gash on the far side of the room.

"You still think he's … you know? He did save our asses a few minutes ago."

"Will you do it or not?" The words came out harsher that he wanted, but his anger started flaring up again.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll keep an eye on him." She agreed hastily, a faint sound of fear in her voice. A moment of silence passed. "Are you okay, Paul?" she asked him.

He got up. "Yeah, I'm fine." As he turned around to leave, something crackled and died, and the room exploded in chatter.

"Guys, I've got a signal!" The voice of the red-haired engineer sounded gleefully.


	13. Chapter 13

The blood that had seeped from the exit wound gave Emmerding's torso a crimson hue, clashing against the otherwise dim color of his armor.

Alisa knelt beside him, occasionally checking his vitals on her Omni-Tool. An almost flat line, only interrupted by jumping up and down faintly in a steady rhythm. His chest rose and sank weakly, almost unnoticeable.

She closed her Omni-Tool again as she stood up. Around her, both Alpha and Bravo Team had begun different tasks.

Since Peter had established a connection to the Poltergeist, Paul and Kajira were huddled around him, filling the Commander in and debating their next steps. Gash, the drell Kel and the human Dvorak had started to pile up the bodies of the Husks, forming grotesque heaps of limbs and faces.

She had stayed with Emmerding the whole time, as she was told. She had to smile a weak smile – the first mission in a long time, and right of the start someone almost dies. The ridiculousness gnawed on her.

Just when she started to look around, Dvorak walked over to her and spoke up.

"Hey, how's he doing?"

She was taken aback. After the incident in the lounge, she'd thought he wouldn't want to talk to her or Paul again. She hesitated and glanced over to Paul. The latter shot her a grim, short look while slowly shaking his head.

That made her angry. She wasn't a child, needing to be told who to talk to and who not. She faced Dvorak again.

"He's not good, but he is stable. We just need to get him out of here as soon as we can."

"We will. No doubt about it."

The unfiltered optimism made her grin. It reminded her of herself, or a version of herself. A long time ago.

"You seem certain." She said, smiling.

He let his hands glow in a soft, blue light. "We're never defenseless, aren't we?"

She let her body glow blue in response. It made her feel good, reminding her of her strength, boosting her confidence.

"Yeah, you're right." She let the glow fade again. Dvorak smiled and turned around to get back to piling bodies.

She wanted to thank him, talk to him some more. "Hey, Helf-"she stopped midsentence and corrected herself. "Dvorak!" He turned around.

"Thanks. And … sorry for the thing on the ship. He's really not that bad, you know."

Dvorak nodded, then turned around and rejoined Gash and Kel.

Alisa stood there for a moment. Although she was surrounded by death, being reminded of her strength made her feel better, calmer. Even Emmerding seemed peaceful, like in a deep sleep.

The glow of Peter's Omni-Tool faded, and Kajira and Paul straightened up.

"Alright, People, listen up." He sounded in his usual, confident tone. The rest of the two teams gathered around them. "Command confirmed what should be obvious to anyone with eyes right about now. This was a trap."

Some nervous laughter ensued. Paul continued.

"Now since Command wants to study the jammer …" he glanced at Dvorak. "We're not gonna blow it up." Gash let out a disappointed grumble.

Kajira chimed in, stepping forward and speaking up.

"We can use the Poltergeists firepower. There are still too much reapers on the station for us to handle, but if we lure them into an open field, we can call in artillery and take out a large chunk of their forces."

"Lure them out? How are we going to do that?" Alisa spoke up. Kel nodded in agreement. Peter answered.

"There is a plaza, not far from where we are right now, where Alpha Team touched down. According to the Poltergeist's scans, the majority of reaper-forces are on our level, so if we can get them on that plaza, the 'geist can blow them to hell!"

"And how are going to get them there? Ask them nicely?" Dvorak said.

"What's the matter, lapdog? Afraid to get your hands dirty?" Paul taunted spiteful.

"Lapdog?" Dvorak replied, more confused than insulted. Before the argument could start, Kajira continued.

"Commander du Pont is sending down a shuttle with a specially prepped emitter. It continuously sends out a high-pitched frequency, which is picked up by husks and other reaper-forces. That should lure them where we want them. The shuttle is landing in fifteen minutes. We secure the emitter, distract the enemy as long as we can and make sure the Poltergeist can get a lock. Any questions?"

"Yeah, what about him?" Alisa spoke up, pointing towards Emmerding.

"He needs medical attention ASAP, so we'll send him up with the carrier-shuttle.

The two teams nodded in agreement. Gash picked up the still limp Emmerding and threw him over his shoulder, causing Alisa to scold him to be careful.

The teams went out of the breached door. When only Dvorak and Peter remained, the latter strapped something onto the jammer and hurried back to the door to catch up to Dvorak.

"What's that?" the Biotic asked.

Peter waved around a metallic gadget with a trigger on the backside. "Just in case …" he grinned when both men stepped outside.


	14. Chapter 14

The drizzle had intensified into a steady downpour. As the two teams stepped outside, a harsh wind whipped the water against them, sprinkling and soaking them in moments.

"There's the shuttle!" Kajira announced, pointing upwards. A small craft was approaching the plaza, some sort of drum strapped to its underside. When it reached the square, it wheeled around once more, aligning itself while it descended. It stopped a few meters above the ground, hovering. The operatives hurried to catch up. With a metallic clank, the drum was released, causing it to thump onto the ground.

"That's the emitter!" Peter shouted over the noise of the running engines and the howling storm.

"Freeway, Helfer, set up the device! Gash, hand over Emmerding to the medic on the shuttle! The rest, take up positions. Once we activate the emitter, every husk on the station is going to close in on our position. We stall them here until the Poltergeist can get a lock and fire its artillery barrage."

"… and watch the fireworks!" Paul chuckled, obviously excited.

The shuttle now hovered just above the ground, its hatch open and the medic inside waiting for Gash to reach them with the injured Emmerding.

A sharp hiss whistled over the group, slamming into the side of the vehicle. It staggered, swiveling, trying to regain its balance. The medic was thrown back inside, and Gash had to dodge out of the way to avoid being crushed. Emmerding landed ruggedly on the ground.

"We're hit! I repeat, we're hit! We're taking fi-"

The radio transmission was cut off by another sharp whistle, followed by another loud thunk as a second shot hit. The shuttle staggered again and started to ascend, black, oily smoke rising from the left engine.

Kajira looked up, trying to find the source of the shots. It wasn't hard to find: On the top of one of the buildings stood a four-legged, bloated mass of flesh and machinery, gun barrels poking out of its sides. A single eye probed the two teams.

"Ravager!" Kajira shouted, darting into cover.

A door slammed open, spewing husks and cannibals onto the plaza. Paul started firing, followed by the other operatives.

"The LZ is too hot, I'm ducking out. Sorry, Alpha and Bravo!" The pilot sounded as the shuttle vanished into the storm. His voice was drowned out by the downpour and gunfire.

"What now?" Peter asked her over the fighting. Her mandibles twitched in tension.

"We stick to the plan. Emmerding has to hold out until we can get him to the ship safely."

The rest of the teams had taken cover. Alisa and Kel were entrenched behind some stone benches, while Gash had dragged Emmerding behind some toppled over beam. Peter still fumbled around with the emitter, which was placed – unfortunately – in the middle of the plaza. Dvorak stood in front of him, creating a blue bubble, shielding them from fire.

"Get your ass into cover Pete!" Paul shouted over his shoulder, not stopping to fire.

"Just a second … I need to activate it first!" He reached inside the drum, cursing under his breath. The machine buzzed to life, humming deep.

"There! Now let's –"

Something pieced Dvorak's bubble, knocking him over. Kajira's eyes widened in horror, as Peter stumbled towards the downed biotic.

"I'm okay! I'm okay!" Dvorak coughed, staggering to his feet. Together, they scrambled behind some benches. Kajira exhaled, relieved. She turned towards the reapers once more.

"Everybody, give me a sitrep!" Paul announced over the radio. A coughing Peter answered him first.

"We're behind cover and the emitter is working." He coughed again. "Now we just sit back and relax until the Poltergeist does all the work, right?"

Paul chuckled. Next came the voice of the drell Kel, calm and strong.

"Agent Dagir and I are in cover and returning fire."

Gash sounded disappointed. "Why do I have to look over the wounded? Can't Alisa do it again?"

"Don't make me come over there!" Alisa replied.

Kajira probed the situation. Her people were in cover, and the enemy was already thinning out. Maybe they could pull this off without any more hiccups?

Something burst out of another door, sounding a guttural growl. The brute pounded its chest, while more husks followed him outside.

Kajira cursed. This was going the get ugly.

Sweat ran down Dvorak's neck as he pulverized another husk's head. Beside him, Gash slammed the barrel of his shotgun in the face of a corrupted turian and pulled the trigger, splattering the ground with black sludge.

They were fighting for a while now, and no matter how many they killed, the reapers just kept coming. In a brief pause, Kel had switched places with Gash, allowing the latter to do what he did best while the drell overlooked Emmerding. The rain had grown into a storm, violently slashing them with harsh wind and a torrent of water. Slowly but steadily, they were pushed back, allowing more and more reapers on the square.

"Gash, Helfer, fall back!" Kajira sounded weary. They obliged, jumping from cover to cover, rejoining the rest of the group that was holed up on the very edge of the plaza, behind them a drop of hundreds of meters. It was supposed to provide the workers of the refinery with a scenic view in their breaks, but now it formed the literal wall against which the team stood with their backs.

"They are taking their sweet-ass time up there!" Paul shouted annoyed.

"I think the storm is interfering with the target-lock!" Peter offered. They were almost out of thermal clips.

Something hit him the engineer in the stomach. He dropped his gun, clutching the wound out of which red liquid started to seep. "Motherf…" he cursed, dropping to his knees. Dvorak reached him, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Pete!" He asked. "You okay?!"

The red-haired man sat down, still clutching his belly. He answered, audibly in pain.

"Yep. I don't think … it's all that bad." He released his hold of the wound. The medi-gel from his armor had already begun to work, clotting the blood and sealing the wound.

"Some artillery support would be nice …" He sounded faint.

Kajira's gun hissed angrily, its counter displaying a red zero. "I'm out!" She shouted.

"Me too!" Paul announced, dropping his gun to the ground.

The reapers pressed on. They had almost reached their position.

A lance of light sliced through the dark clouds. When it impacted on the square, the world seemed to go up in flames.

The first explosion annihilated the fountain and everything in and around it. Rain, blood, stone, flesh and metal vaporized as the heat devoured anything hit in the blast.

A second lance crashed into the ground, tearing apart husks and structure alike.

Another lance hit. Then another. And another.

Dvorak watched in amazement. He could feel the heat of the explosions from here, behind his helmet. He let the waves of shock and heat wash over him, cleanse him. Peter's eyes closed, his head tipped to one side.

Everything seemed like a dream, like in slow motion. The reapers were being torn apart, while Gash and Paul cheered, gesturing obscenities towards them. Alisa held her face in her hands, laughing or crying. Dvorak couldn't tell. Kel knelt on one knee beside her, smiling for the first time since he'd met him. Emmerding seemed like in a peaceful slumber.

And Kajira looked at him. Rain washed against one side of her face, explosions lit up the other one. Her mandibles twitched. She said something, but he couldn't hear her over the crescendo.

When the bombardment stopped, nothing left was standing in the plaza. It looked like an uncaring god had ravaged the earth itself, tearing and splitting anywhere possible. The rain already filled the craters with water.

A shuttle approached them. Dvorak turned around, facing it. He took off his helmet, letting the water wash over his face. He threw his head back, closing his eyes, embracing the cold sting of the rainfall.


End file.
